Rube Goldberg Machines Go Green at Indiana-Based Contest

Reuben Lucius Goldberg's claim to fame was amazing inventions (in cartoon form) that used everyday objects to construct outrageous and complex machines that performed simple tasks. The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest was first held in 1949 at Purdue University to bring Goldberg's cartoons to life in a competition that focuses on the ingenuity of student engineers. It's been held on and off ever since. On Saturday, teams of students competing in the 22nd annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest had one goal: Replace an incandescent light bulb with a more efficient CFLas inefficiently as possible. PM was on scene at Purdue University's campus in West Lafayette, Ind., to catch the entertaining results.

Penn State

Penn State University senior Brianne Wilburne readies her team's machine in preparation for another run. The team won the regional Penn State Rube Goldberg Competition held at Penn State in February.

With a Super Mario Brothers video game theme based on the Nintendo classic, students from Penn State University's American Society of Mechanical Engineers used a Nerf gun rigged to a small motor as a part of their machine's sequence. Teams were required to use 20 or more steps in their quest to complete the competition's task: Replacing an incandescent light bulb with an LED bulb.

University of Texas

As the only one-member team in the competition, University of Texas student Tyler Luce used liquid nitrogen at the beginning of his Jurassic Park-themed machine. The nitrogen, which is used to deflate a balloon to trigger the fall of an egg, eventually is released through a small volcano.

To light the LED bulb that spotlights the Jurassic Park-themed machine's sole T-rex, Luce triggered the machine's motor with a small car that runs down a ramp, hitting the power switch in one of the final steps of the 51-step sequence.

Michigan Technological University

The judging of this year's competition was out of 100 points: 40 points for the theme of the machine and the extent to which it embodies the spirit of Rube Goldberg's cartoons, 60 points for the how smoothly the machine runs during the competition. Michigan Technological University students built their machine with a superhero theme.

Ferris State University

Students from third-place winner Ferris State University spent 2 to 3 hours a day, five days per week working on their Rube Goldberg machine for this year's contest, titled "House of Rube."

The sequence weaved throughout the three levels of the "house," and focused on steps using gravity and relays that raised objects up and down.

Ferris State student Kyle Hebner said it was the three-dimensionality of the machine that made it special. "What we like to stress is encompassing all facets of engineering," Hebner said of his team's entry.

University of Illinois

Students from the University of Illinois based their second-place machine on the board game, Clue. It was the first time the university sent a team to the event.

To turn on the LED bulb, a metal ball rolls down a track and completes the circuit needed to start the microprocessor. The student-built microprocessor is programmed to switch out the light bulbs.

St. Olaf College

This year's first place winner, St. Olaf College from Northfield, Minn., was the competition's Cinderella story. Without an engineering program, a group of mostly science majors, many studying physics and math, built this mad-scientist-themed machine as part of an engineering class.

The St. Olaf team built a spinning turntable, which rotates a record with three holes. When lined up perfectly, these holes emit lasers beams that trigger a ball to come down the copper track, completing a circuit. As the machine's sequence ends, metal balls filter through a Plinko board in the upper right-hand corner that triggers the tiny LED lights that spell "St. Olaf."

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.